The September Project: How to secede from Fast Food Nation
Stick to... eating better.
So you’ve signed up for The September Project and are sticking to it, right? (RIGHT?!?!)
And you’ve checked out this post I wrote on some simple ways to get started with exercising regularly?
Ok, cool.
But as I wrote in that exercising post, the yin to the yang of exercising regularly is eating better. And trust me, that’s always been my downfall. Still is, sometimes.
As my wife would say, I eat like shit.
In my defense, they call it comfort food for a reason, right?
Before I started trying to get healthy, I was eating fast food a few times a week. Snacking before bed every night. Eating carbs whenever I could. Loading my coffee with sugar. Going for seconds (thirds?) Pretty much every bad habit you can imagine.
Let’s be honest — it’s an addiction.
How’d I break out of that rut? I’m still not sure I’ll ever fully get over craving Doritos or a good bacon cheeseburger or pizza or ice cream (sorry — I’ll stop). But I took a few steps to start me on my way, and I’ve more or less stuck with them for the last two years. In turn, it’s helped me keep the weight off, lower my cholesterol, sleep better, and just generally feel better (both physically and mentally).
Eating healthy most definitely isn’t a snap-your-fingers type of thing (it’s a process), but don’t let that scare you off.
Here are a few quick ways to get started eating better:
Cut sugar as much as possible. No more soda. No more sugar in your coffee. I pretty much only drink water (including soda water) and black coffee. I honestly don’t miss soda much at all, and I appreciate the taste of good coffee. Oh, and I keep Polar Seltzer in business while I’m at it (I like the Cranberry-Lime flavor best).
Drink water. Not only does it help speed up your metabolism, but it helps make you feel more full and not fall victim to empty snacking. You’re supposed to drink 12 eight-ounce glasses of water a day. I guarantee 95 percent of you reading this don’t. So go buy a Nalgene bottle and keep it by you all day.
Cut your portions. Do you serve yourself big portions? Do you go for seconds? Whatever it is…cut it by a quarter (and eventually maybe even half). It’ll suck for like a week, but eventually your body will get used to it — and I guarantee you probably don’t need all the calories you’re currently eating.
Add in healthy snacks. I used to be big on waiting between meals — which led to overeating when I finally sat down to have a meal. Don’t do that. Add in some healthy (but good) snacks every couple hours — almonds, non-shitty meat sticks (Trader Joe’s has some good ones called Chomps), protein bars (just make sure they don’t have a shit-ton of sugar), fruits (I like apples, bananas, kiwis, and grapes), and other things that don’t have a ton of sugar or carbs.
Up the protein and cut the carbs. This might be the toughest one for me (I love bread and cheese and stuff like that), but it’s maybe the most important. Try as hard as you can to stay away from sandwiches (and bread in general) and try to up the protein (especially lean protein like fish and turkey). I’ll write more about how this translates to actual meals another time, but it’s good to start being mindful of this.
Cut the nighttime snacks. Actually, this might be the toughest for me. Whenever I’m watching TV, I almost always get the urge to mindlessly snack. It’s almost out of boredom. Goldfish, pretzels, chips…I don’t discriminate. But it’s also the worst habit because you’re loading your body up with garbage before you go to sleep. I’ve had a friend tell me he brushes his teeth immediately after dinner so he won’t be tempted to snack (I’ve honestly never tried it) and he swears it works. Me? I just try to go to bed early — which helps in other ways too.
Build in a cheat day. This isn’t me saying to go hog-wild and undo everything you did the rest of the week. But it’s ok to have one day where you reward yourself a bit. You’re not a goddamn robot (that I know of, at least). My family does Friday Pizza Night (and ice cream for dessert). I don’t eat a whole pizza or a pint of ice cream or anything, but I still let myself enjoy a couple slices of pepperoni and a few scoops of black raspberry.
Start slow and don’t be hard on yourself. You’re not going to start doing all of these at once. And you might not ever do all of them (I barely do). But start somewhere. Pick one or two of these to try tomorrow and see how you feel. Then do them again the next day. Then add another one or two next week. And don’t beat yourself up if you backslide a bit here and there — it’s totally normal.
Alright, my friends. Bed time for me, but I’d love to hear any other tips in the comments section if you’ve got them! Happy (healthy) eating!
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Pfft this guy is secretly 310